For the Love of Art: Valerie Cassel Oliver and the Intersection of Art and Activism

Speakers:
Valerie Cassel Oliver, the Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, VMFA
Chioke l’Anson, Assistant Professor, Department of African American Studies, VCU and faculty-in-residence, ICA

Join Valerie Cassel Oliver and Chioke I’Anson for a discussion on the groundbreaking, multidisciplinary artist Howardena Pindell. The conversation will explore how Pindell has moved between figurative and abstract painting in an effort to assert her place as an African American woman in the field of contemporary art. The conversation will also explore Pindell’s work as a curator, educator, and activist, who has sought to challenge traditions of the art world and its barriers to artists of color.

Valerie Cassel Oliver is the Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Prior to this position, she spent 16 years at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Texas, where she was senior curator. Cassel Oliver has organized numerous exhibitions including co-curating Howardena Pindell: What Remains to Be Seen on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through November 25.

Chioke I’Anson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies at VCU and the first faculty-in-residence at the ICA. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of South Florida and if you listen to NPR you’ll recognize his smooth baritone voice from the underwriting announcements. Chioke rides motorcycles quite fast.

Get Tickets

For the Love of Art is a series created by the Institute for Contemporary Art, which features artists and curators discussing big ideas that drive their favorite art movements. This program is co-presented with the VMFA in conjunction with their special exhibition, Howardena Pindell: What Remains to Be Seen.